Speculate!

Welcome to Episode 134 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of multiple Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning author Ken Liu, focusing on his debut novel, The Grace of Kings.  Ken’s reputation speaks for itself, and as we […]

              Welcome to Episode 133 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk speculative fiction and music with podcaster/musician John Anealio and writer/musician Peter Orullian, looking at how to write music in speculative fiction believably, how music has informed our work (and, in […]

                  Welcome to Episode 132 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we talk about speculative fiction and games–and the increasingly blurred lines between them–with authors Carrie Patel and Josh Vogt, both with game and novel writing credits.  We consider the ways writing for games […]

Welcome to Episode 130 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we tackle China Mieville‘s The City and the City with Tor.com‘s commissioning editor and Rocket Talk‘s co-host Justin Landon, looking at what makes the 2010 Hugo winner such a compelling read.  We consider the role of space, spaces, and […]

Welcome to Episode 129 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  This episode, starring Tor.com‘s commissioning editor and Rocket Talk‘s co-host Justin Landon, was originally intended to be a discussion of China Mieville‘s The City and the City, but we felt we had to weigh in on the recent Hugo controversy first; that […]

             Welcome to Episode 128 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we talk about speculative fiction poetry with authors Nancy Hightower and Bryan Thao Worra as we consider the unique appeal of poetry, how so much of speculative fiction poetry touches on the dark, […]

                          Welcome to Episode 127 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans. In this episode, we talk fantasy, military, and writing business with authors (and former Speculate guests) Brian McClellan and Myke Cole as we look at writing trilogies, what a civilian […]

Welcome to Episode 125 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Kameron Hurley, focusing on her novel The Mirror Empire.  During the course of our conversation Kameron talks about her process of worldbuilding, why persistence in writing is so important, […]

Welcome to Episode 124 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Kameron Hurley, focusing on the first novel from the Worldbreaker Saga, The Mirror Empire.  We had a chance to see this book in an earlier form when we […]

Welcome to Episode 123 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to Jason M. Hough, author of the highly successful Dire Earth Cycle, about his writing process, the appeal of NaNoWriMo, and how “Scalzi writes Firefly” got him a contract with Del Rey–even if he doesn’t think his […]

Welcome to Episode 122 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to Jeanne Cavelos, founder of the long-running and highly respected Odyssey Writing Workshop, about the reasons she started the workshop, how it’s measured up to her expectations (and surpassed them!), and both the benefits and potential pitfalls […]

Welcome to Episode 120 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman, focusing on his breakout novel The Magicians.  During the course of a remarkably frank discussion Lev talks about growing up in New York City, the ways he […]

Welcome to Episode 119 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman, focusing on his breakout novel The Magicians, the book which began the bestselling trilogy of the same name.  The Magicians is an unabashedly New York book, […]

                        Welcome to Episode 118 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we delve more into the world of short speculative fiction as we chat with authors (and former guests) Brenda Cooper and Martha Wells about their particular approaches to writing […]

                       Welcome to Episode 117 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, simultaneously run on two other podcasts, we talk about the medium and message as we chat with authors and podcasters Patrick Hester (of the Hugo award-winning SF Signal […]

Welcome to Episode 116 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk for the second time to Lou Anders, former editor at Pyr Books during an award-winning career and author of Frostborn, the first book in the middle grade fantasy series Thrones & Bones.  We talk about what it’s […]

Welcome to Episode 114 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Ann Leckie, focusing on her multiple award winning debut novel Ancillary Justice, as we speak to the author herself.  Ann talks about the genesis of AJ, her love for […]

Welcome to Episode 113 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Ann Leckie, focusing on her debut novel Ancillary Justice–the first novel ever to win the Hugo, Nebula and Clarke awards in a single year.  Ancillary Justice plays with […]

Welcome to Episode 112 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we sit down for a chat with Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera series.  We talk about what it’s like to put together a long-running series of books (in […]

        Welcome to Episode 111 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we chat with authors Marie Bilodeau and Erik Scott de Bie about working with small presses and the new landscape of publishing, particularly in the speculative fiction field–and find out what publishing in the worlds of Canada […]